as unsinkable as i can be // the wilds

chapter nine.

The weather changed so quickly, it was as if someone was watching us from above and pushing buttons to change how each day started.

A thunderstorm woke us up the next morning, and thanks to the large piece of the emergency slide that Dot had found, we weren't as soaked as we could've been. Fatin tried her hardest to keep her things from getting soaked through, but there wasn't much we could do.

"I used to think that thunderstorms were majestic!" Leah yelled over the storm, trying to hide her immortal book under her shirt.

"That still your take?!" Rachel screamed back. There was a flash of lightning and a loud swoosh of rain hitting us, and you could hear Leah's small "no."

Eventually, everything calmed down, and it was back to as normal it could be. There was a lull with all of us; we were exhausted, and the day had hardly started. Most of us just sat around, sulking, and hoping still that a rescue plane would show up at any point.

"Dottie, what are you doing?" Shelby asked, coming to sit beside me and Nora, who were laying Fatin's things out in the sun, trying to get them as dry as they could be before the sunset.

"Smoke signal." Dot blew on the pile of wet logs she had piled together. "Wet wood makes for black smoke, which makes for a signal fire."

"Pretty small signal fire," Toni muttered a few feet away, burying her fingers in the sand as deep as she could get them.

"Well, I think it's a great idea!" Shelby exclaimed, sitting beside Dot and trying to be as helpful as possible.

"Your stuff should be dry as soon as possible," I called out to Fatin, who was sunbathing behind us. She just waved me off with a flick of her wrist, and I laughed a little to myself.

"I wonder what would happen if her bag wasn't the one that showed up," Nora whispered to me, a small smile playing on her lips.

"What are you suggesting?" I whispered back, grinning, and raising my eyebrow at her.

"One word: toothbrush." I broke into a full-on smile, nodding immediately.

"Who knew that Nora Reid had such a bad side," I teased as Nora glanced behind her at Fatin, who's eyes were closed, and then grabbed her toothbrush, makeup box, and birth control pills.

We giggled as we walked quietly around the turn of the island and hiked up to the cliff that overlooked our camp, hiding Fatin's things in a large bush. Nora (smartly) used a pattern of rocks that looked natural but was easily recognizable to mark which bush it was, and after checking each angle to make sure it was hidden, we snuck back down into camp.

"What are y'all doin'?" Shelby asked loudly, and we both shushed her and pulled her out of earshot from Fatin.

"Can you forget your Jesus-ness and help us play this? Fatin won't suspect you, and pageant girls can kinda act."

"Well, pageant girls display a multitude of skills and abilities, from singing to jump roping to juggling," Nora corrected me, and I just shook my head and laughed.

"She's right, ya know," Shelby laughed.

I hadn't actually talked to Shelby until this moment, and I hadn't seen that side of Nora until then, either. It was nice to be able to talk so naturally with them. I guess that's what being stranded on an island with other girls your age will do to you.

We all got back to where we were at first, ignoring Dot's weird looks. We went back to what we had been doing beforehand, not making eye contact with each other.

We waited a few minutes, and then Nora gave Shelby the cue.

"Hey, Fatin, can I borrow your toothbrush? Just for a quick scrub?"

There was a grunt. "You actually think I'm going to share my toothbrush with you?"

"Look, I'm not above sharing, and I can't find it anywhere. I just wanted to use it for a hot second." Fatin shot up, and I had to avoid eye contact from either of the other girls, knowing that we would burst out laughing.

"What do you mean you can't find it? It was right next to me!" She scrambled around where she was sitting, finding nothing, then realizing her pills and makeup wasn't in the suitcase that she tore through, throwing everything onto the sand.

Dot just looked bewildered at Fatin's sudden craze, and the rest of the girls, who had been sitting further down the beach, came up and noticed the commotion.

"Did someone take it?" She noticed Rachel coming closer. "You. You were mad when I didn't let you use my toothbrush. You took it!"

Rachel laughed, giving a concerned look to Leah. "Okay, um, no I didn't, and what is your obsession with this thing?"

"It is the only thing keeping me sane!" She screamed and kicked a rock, landing her what probably was a broken toe, and then slumping down onto the ground and curling up into a ball.

At this point, Shelby, Nora, and I just lost it. We laughed so loudly and so hysterically; we had no idea that was how she was going to react. I felt a little bad, but honestly, we needed some entertainment on the island at that point.

"I-" Wheeze. "-had no-" Wheeze. "-idea that she-" Wheeze. "-would react-" Wheeze. "-like that!" Nora collapsed onto me, and we fell into a pile of laughs, giggling extremely hard. It had taken us a second to realize that Fatin was shooting us the deadliest look I had ever seen.

"Where is it?" she hissed, narrowing her eyes at Nora and I.

"Here, I'll show you," Shelby mumbled, leading Fatin up the side of the cliff. I could tell she suddenly felt extremely guilty, and she was now trying to make up for it.

"Nice one," Rachel complimented, high fiving me. I smiled back, giving a little bow. Nora and I scooted next to the fire, reliving the moment of Fatin's face and realization when she found out.

When she did come back, I could tell she had forgiven us, which was something that I hadn't really seen her do before. It was an extremely out of character thing for her to do, and I was wondering for a while why she did it.

That is until I went to pee in the woods and heard her talking to Toni.

"I've never seen her laugh like that before," Toni muttered, and I saw her smooth her hair back.

"Why do you think I didn't get that mad after? It was almost weird, to see her so happy."

"I want to help her, or at least figure out what she's going through, why she's here, but it's hard."

"You just have to keep trying, Toni. I can see the way you look at her, and I can see the way she looks at you. But you need to let her in so that she'll let you in."

For some reason, I felt like I was being manipulated, but the concern on Toni's face and the genuine reassurance etched into Fatin's made me feel like there were people who actually cared about me. 

---

Okay y'all - to be honest, this wasn't my strongest chapter, and I apologize for that. I wanted to add a chapter that would lighten up a few things, but also introduce other sides of a few of the characters that I feel like weren't as touched on in the actual show. I promise, there will be some much better chapters coming soon, and I am taking each and everyone one of your comments into consideration. 

And @Blakeismm, I hope that you like the start to a friendship for Rae and Nora!

ALSO we made a new cover, hope y'all like, leave y'alls thoughts down below :)

xoxo, 

Em :)